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Monday, January 7, 2013

Ragnar Relay Florida Keys, Part 2

(...continued)

In the morning, we drove to the next major exchange point
for Van 2 to hand-off the bracelet to us. Because of the issues they were
having, it didn’t look like John would hand off the bracelet to me until much
later than anticipated; and I was worried we weren’t going to finish the race
before the cut-off time.

We called the Ragnar officials, and asked them about our
options. They told us that we could have Van 1 start before Van 2 was done
running, and we just had to keep track of our leg times so that we could still
have an official time at the end. That way, all of the legs would still be run,
but we would finish earlier. We decided that John (runner 12, the last runner
in Van 2) would start his leg as normal, but when he started, I would start the
next leg at the same time to get Van 1 rolling again. Hard to explain, but it
worked out.

I started my third and final leg at around 9:15 a.m. It
was only three miles, and Angela strapped a camera to my head to wear during
the run.

Since it was only three miles, and it was my final leg, I decided to
push my pace, even though I was tired. I ended up passing a couple of guys, one
of whom said, “You’re making me look bad!”

It was extremely humid (once again), but the course was
easy and I finished my last leg with an 8:42 pace.

We went to McDonald’s to use
the bathroom and get some coffee and hang out for a few minutes before going
over the 7-Mile Bridge to the next exchange point.The bridge was really cool, and I've never seen anything like it; but I certainly didn't envy Meredith for running it, because it was SO hot and humid, and that was an "unsupported" leg (meaning vans are not allowed to stop to support runners, and there were no water stops, so she had to carry water with her).

While we were waiting for Lealah to finish her long (very, very hot) leg, Angela interviewed us--just a couple of quick questions about the race itself.

Behind the scenes with Andrea's interview

I was SO happy to be done with my runs! I wasn’t
“allowed” to change out of my sweaty clothes just yet, though, because the
Today Show wanted to interview us at the finish line. I used baby wipes to
clean up the best I could, but I still felt gross. We went to the next major exchange point to hand off to Van 2. Jennifer was the first runner in Van 2, and since she'd had a bad run the night before, we wanted to give her extra support.

It was so amazing. I can't even talk or write about this without crying. We all wanted Jennifer to have an amazing run, and gain some confidence back, so all 11 of us went to cheer for her at the exchange point. We were chanting her name as it was time for her to start, and I just felt this amazing love for all of my team! They are SO supportive.

After that, I just relaxed in the van
until it was time for us to drive all the way to the finish line while Van 2
did their third legs. When we arrived at the finish line, we parked the van and
went over to where the Today Show was set up. I met Kerry Sanders, who would be
interviewing me. He was very sweet. I felt a little rushed during the
interview, and I’m not so sure it sounded okay, but at that point, I just
didn’t care! I was way too excited to be at the after party.

After Rik and Ada were interviewed, we finally got to go
party! First, we went to the Ragnar shop, because I wanted to get a shirt or
two. The hoodies were really picked over—they had all XXL’s, and two
XS’s—nothing in-between. I tried on the XS, and it actually fit, so I got a
hoodie; I also got a t-shirt. It was hard to choose, because I wanted
everything!

Then we sat down on the beach with the spouses, and we
had a couple of rounds of drinks while we waited for Van 2. I had a mojito,
which I’d been craving ever since we talked of Ragnar Florida Keys.

Ada, Andrea, and me

Finally, at
around 7:00, we went to the finish line to wait for John. He was runner 12, the
last one, and when he came down the street, our entire team joined him. We all
grabbed hands and slowly ran the last couple hundred yards or so together.

I can’t even describe how amazing it was to cross the
finish line with my team! We all started hugging (and crying) and I just felt
this amazing sense of camaradarie. I love all of them so much, and they made
this experience amazing. Rik handed out our medals, we did some more hugging.

I don't know what our "official" finish time is, but it was about 38 hours.We had been told by The Today Show that they were going
to do some photos of the team on the beach after the race, so we had to do that
before anything else. But when it came time, they only wanted Rik, Ada, Carly,
and me to go. I was really upset by that, because I wanted it to be the whole
team. Maybe it was the drinks, maybe it was the emotional finish, maybe both,
but I started crying and I just said I didn’t want to go without the whole
team.

My team was fantastic about it, though, and they kept
telling me to go, that it was ridiculous for me not to and that I had to
“represent” all of our stories. So I ended up going, but my eyes and nose were
all red from crying, so I can’t even imagine what it’s going to look like.

They just had me stand there while they moved the camera all around

When we were done with that, we dropped Ada off at her
hotel, and then we went back to the finish line party (which was overwith by
that point). John said he wanted to go out and I really did too, so John,
Jerry, and I went to a bar/restaurant for some dinner and drinks. I tried tuna
steak for the first time in my life, and it was pretty good. I liked it a lot
more than I thought I would.

On Facebook recently, we were talking about how we should
treat ourselves better; that we deserve to do nice things for ourselves
(inspired by this post from Jennifer). John said (on Facebook), “When we get to
Key West, we should all order a top shelf drink”. I jokingly said, “Sure John,
if you’re buying!” So I wanted to buy John a top shelf drink, but he ended up
beating me to it, and bought me a top shelf margarita (which was fantastic!)

The restaurant kicked us out at around 11. I was tired
and planned to go back to the hotel, but when we got down to the street, John
saw a bar that he wanted to get a drink from. It didn’t take more than a “Come
on!” from John to talk me into it ;)So
we sat and had a beer on the street.

Notice the words right above John's head ;)

Duval Street in Key West is… well, an experience
in itself. It was so much fun to people watch! The crowd was very interesting,
which is the only way I can really describe it. John got a cab back to his
hotel at around 1, and Jerry and I walked back to our hotel (about a mile
away). I took a shower (finally!! I had two days worth of sweat and grime on
me) and then crashed in bed.

The Ragnar was AMAZING! I will write more about my thoughts on the whole thing later; for now, I'm living it up in Key West!

28 comments:

Your team sounds so amazing. It's rare to meet one person and get that kind of support, but the fact that there were 12 of you all supporting each other is fabulous. Congrats on getting through the Ragnar.

Your posts are definitely inspiring me to get a team together for later this year - I've already checked out Vegas and Napa! Or 2014 (probably the latter for planning purposes!).

Your team is amazing; all of that love and support for one another is something I'd guess not all the teams had. Your team really seemed to show the true meaning of what it means to be a team! I can't wait to watch the documentary and the Today segment!

I loved reading the recap. When I read about you guys crossing the finish line together it literally brought tears to my eyes! What a great experience for you all. :) Thanks for sharing it with all of us!

Sounds like an amazing experience Katie. Thanks for sharing it with us. I can't even imagine the sense of camaraderie you had with your teammates, that must have been wonderful! I can't believe an XS hoodie fit! That in itself is amazing and a testament to what running and clean eating can do to a body. When I see a size XS in the stores, I think, "Who is SMALL enough to wear something that little?" And now I know who is! YOU!!!

Congratulations Katie! I can't wait to see you on the Today Show! Enjoy Key West, it is one of my favorite places. Don't miss the sunset party, and try not to eat too many chocolate dipped key lime pie slices!

I loved reading this - I thought about you and your team all weekend! Congrats to you and your team mates, I am teary reading this - I can feel your excitement and emotions through your wonderful writing! (and as a side note, you really do have a gift for writing... among other things!). Love your blog, you are so inspiring (and adorable to boot)!

Congrats! you should be so proud!!! I can't wait to see the segment on the Today Show. I enjoyed the pics and updates on FB as well. This is very inspiring! I started running a year ago this month. I completed my goal of running a 5K by running three of them. :) Then I had hip surgery in Dec. You are totally making me want to RUN!!!! I hope my hip recovers well enough that I can run. I'd like to do a half. Again - WAY TO GO!!!!!! I can't tell you how inspiring this is.

Reading this literally made me tear up!! I'm so excited for you that it was everything you'd hoped it would be. The way you supported your team, and the way they supported you, is inspirational. Way to go team!!!

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :)

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Mon- rest

Tue- Speed work

Wed- Easy run

Thu- rest

Fri- Easy run

Sat- Easy run

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After training hard and running my best 10K this year, I am taking it easy through the summer. I run following the 80/20 Running ratio. For my easy runs, I use a heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate in the "easy" zone.

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